Boerin op het land, mogelijk met een riek c. 1884 - 1887

Willem Witsen rendered this drawing of a farmer, possibly with a rake, using graphite on paper. The softness of the graphite allows for a wide range of tonal variation, from the lightest grays suggesting open sky, to the darkest shadows defining the figure’s dress and the earth she stands upon. The very act of drawing, with its direct contact between artist and surface, highlights the inherent qualities of the materials. Witsen employed hatching and cross-hatching, building up layers of graphite to create depth and volume, particularly in the dense strokes delineating the soil. Consider how this mode of mark-making embodies a certain ethos, very different from the smooth finish of an academic painting. Here, we have a celebration of labor, both the farmer’s and the artist’s. Both are engaged in a process of physically working the earth, in their own ways. Appreciating the labor of the artwork underscores the connection between art and wider social issues, blurring the boundaries between fine art and the everyday.